


Hurry Home

by Aleixi



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Dad Grillby, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Runaway, Songfic, Unresolved Conflict, undertale - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 09:40:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21177314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aleixi/pseuds/Aleixi
Summary: After an argument that leaves Grillby and Papyrus seriously hurt, Sans runs away. It's been a month now since they saw him and he hasn't been answering his phone, but they still hold out hope that he'll call and come back home.





	Hurry Home

**Author's Note:**

> What happens when I listen to "Hurry Home" by Jason Michael Carroll on repeat after reading sad Undertale Fics and Baby Blaster AU's? This apparently! It didn't want to leave my head, so, hey, here ya go, hope you like it, and give Jason Carroll a listen. Even if you aren't a big fan of country, he's got some pretty heartbreaking songs. Borrows some ideas from Trust and My Fault, both AMAZING fics, but also a few ideas that have been bouncing in my head for a while.

Grillby sat fidgeting beside on the couch, staring at the cell phone on the coffee table in front of him, hand to his mouth in a mockery of chewing the tip of his thumb while the younger of his adopted sons paced frantically back and forth. The tall skeleton monster sighed in frustration as he pulled his own phone from his back pocket and dialed a number that both had memorized, knowing that there would be no answer just as there had been no answer for the past month.

“Sans, please! Where ARE you?!” he sobbed, dropping to his knees as the phone went to message for easily the hundredth time.

Grillby sighed, getting to his feet and walking over to kneel next to his son, wrapping an arm over his shoulders. The skeleton monster turned and latched onto the front of the fire monster’s shirt, crying hopelessly, “Why?” he managed to get out, “Why isn’t he answering? Why won’t he come home?”

Grillby couldn’t say anything. These questions had been whirling in his own mind for weeks now and he’d had no answer himself. He could only close his eyes, forcing back his own fiery tears as he held his young son close.

The boys had been brought to him about ten years ago, as foster children when the orphanage in Waterfall had been damaged in a mudslide. Sans had been around fifteen, still a couple years from being out of stripes, and Papyrus had just been seven. No one had known what happened to their parents, and they had been on the streets for as long as Papyrus could remember. Sans refused to talk about what had happened, and it was only by chance that they had even made it to the orphanage. Since then they had been “problem children” as Papyrus refused to stay anywhere without his brother and Sans had been openly hostile towards everyone, insisting that they didn’t need anyone else. Bringing them to Grillby, a war veteran who had opened a bar and mostly kept to himself, had been a last-ditch effort by the guard. Sans had remained hostile, but Grillby was firm and had put down ground rules and had them working but he came to care for them dearly. By the time the orphanage repairs were complete, none of them had been eager to say goodbye. They remained his wards for another couple years, and when Sans reached the age when he would be out of stripes, Grillby offered them a permanent home.

And things had gone well, at least that was what Grillby thought. In the past several months though he had noticed Sans becoming distant and on edge. Secretive. More so than he had been before, which was certainly saying something about his eldest son. Even Papyrus had noticed, and he tried to talk to him several times until the night when it all went wrong.

**********

“Sans, please! Talk to us! What’s going on?”

“Papyrus, I said enough!”

“Sans, we can’t help you if we don’t know what’s going on.” Grillby had said calmly.

“No one can! No one can help me! So, stop trying already!” the younger monster put his shaking hands on either side of his skull, eyes squeezed shut as his bones rattled.

“Sans!” Papyrus walked forward and Sans suddenly lashed out, bone attacks manifesting out of nowhere and thrusting themselves into Papyrus’s chest, knocking him flat on his back, taking out about a quarter of the teen’s HP with it.

The three monsters had stood in shocked silence. To do HP damage meant that one had to muster up the intent to harm. To do that much, when Papyrus’s safety and wellbeing had always been Sans’s one prerogative…

“Sans…” Grillby whispered as Papyrus sat up gingerly, tears in his eyes.

“NO!” tears were streaming down Sans’s face too, and more attacks manifested. He tried to step back but tripped because he was shaking so bad and scrambled back towards the door.

“Sans, please-“ he stepped forward, arms outstretched to embrace his terrified child, but was met with a bombardment of attacks of his own. “NO!” the scream was more desperate now as he lashed out at Grillby a second time, “g-get away from me!” he managed to get to his feet and opened the door, tripping over his shoelaces and down the three steps into the snow.

“Sans, please, don’t go!” Grillby tried again, hurrying to the door, but another attack struck his shoulder, sending him to his knees as the total amount of HP Sans managed to take off now between the three attacks was over half. He watched as Sans shook his head, hands clutching his shirt over his soul before he turned, running as fast as he could out of Snowdin.

“SANS!” Papyrus and Grillby both cried out, but it was pointless. There was no stopping him.

**********

They had hoped Sans would have returned later that night, or perhaps the next, but after a week of not hearing from him, despite multiple phone calls to a cell phone that, frankly Sans may or not have at this point, they had begun fearing that the young skeleton may not be coming back home. The Underground may not have been very large, but if a monster didn’t want to be found, especially one with San’s unusual magical abilities which included some form of teleportation, they could easily avoid being found.

And this had proven to be true, seeing as nearly the entire guard had been informed of Sans’s disappearance from the second day.

Snowdin in particular caught on quickly. Not only because a few monster children had been playing in the street that day and had run home scared and telling their parents that a monster had attacked someone else. Grillby’s phone had gone off quickly then, seeing as he was the bar owner and generally up to date on the town news by that very nature. But his injuries also meant that he wasn’t allowed to open the bar for a few days by order of the doctor that worked on him and Papyrus. And from there, word had spread quickly out to Waterfall and Hotland. He had received a phone call from his brother Flint a few days after the incident.

**********

“Hey, I just heard the news. Sans ran away?”

“Yeah…Yeah he did…I don’t…I don’t suppose he’d up there with you guys?” Grillby knew it was a long shot. Flint and Sans were never particularly close, though the skeleton had taken to Fiora and Ashley well enough.”

“No. No, I’d tell you if he had, Grill. You know that.”

“Yeah, I know…I just…Hoped…” he’d leaned forward, resting his head in his free hand as hot tears slid down his face, “I just don’t know where he’s gotten to, Flint.”

“I mean, I hope you find him. If I do see him, I’ll remind him that he’s got family that misses him.”

“Yeah…Yeah, and…Tell him it doesn’t matter what happened or where he’s been. I love him, and he can still come home…He…He can always come home…” his voice broke and soon he was explaining everything.

“What happened, Flint?” he asked tearfully when he was done, “What did I do wrong? How do I bring him back home?”

Flint sighed heavily, “I don’t know, kiddo…” the use of the childish nickname broke Grillby all over again, “I wish I knew how to help. But I do know it wasn’t something you did wrong. You’ve always done right by those kids of yours. Whatever happened…Whatever triggered that argument…I don’t think it’s anything you could have stopped. But Sans is a smart guy. He knows you wouldn’t give up on him. I’m sure he’ll be home in a few days and you guys can work it all out.”

After he had gotten off the phone with his brother he had taken his phone and recorded a message, just in case Sans did call and Grillby wasn’t able to answer for one reason or another.

“It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, I still love you. It doesn’t matter where you’ve been, you can still come home. Sans, buddy, if it’s you…I mean I’m not gonna lie, we got a lot of making up to do, but I can’t…I can’t hug you through the phone, Sans, so hurry home."

**********

And now more than a month had passed, and that message was still saved there. Grillby usually had his phone on him and answered it quickly any time it rang in hopes it was Sans, always fearing it was a guard member calling to tell him Sans wasn’t going to be coming home. Despite that he had missed calls, and a number of monsters that weren’t his son had heard it. A few had even asked him about it after a couple weeks had passed and it looked like Sans was gone for good.

**********

“Hey Grillbz,” one of his regulars, Dizzy asked drunkenly, “doncha think it’s about time you changed your message?” she hiccupped, “I mean, it’s not like Sansy’s in stripes anymore. Maybe he’s just decided he’s not coming back home. A cousin of mine did that a few years back, just left home and cut ties. It happens you know.”

“No. I’m not changing it. Not until I hear from him and know he’s okay.” Grillby replied in a clipped tone.

“Grillby, it’s been AGES! He ain’t callin’.”

“No, you never know when he might call. And if he does…If he calls and I can’t answer, I need him to know…”

**********

Papyrus’s sobs finally tapered off, but the two remained where they were, supporting each other in their shared pain.

“I’m sorry, Papyrus,” Grillby whispered after several moments, “I’m sorry he hasn’t come home yet. I’m sorry I can’t help you.”

Papyrus shook his head, “no…None of this is your fault…”

“Nor is it yours. You understand that, right?”

Papyrus sniffed and shrugged before standing up, helping his father to his feet as well, “well…” he wiped at his eyes, “I promised Undyne I would meet her for training. I wouldn’t want to keep her waiting. You’ll…You’ll call me if you hear anything, right?”

“Of course,” Grillby gave his young son a small, sad smile, “I need to pick up some groceries before the shop closes anyway. I’ll see you later.”

The two embraced and Papyrus left as Grillby stood there in the now empty house. He knew Papyrus blamed himself for what happened, and no amount of assurances seemed to convince him. He knew that only Sans himself coming home would be able to convince Papyrus that he wasn’t solely responsible for his brothers absence.

With a sigh he walked to the hall closet and took out his overcoat, pulling it on and walking out the door, leaving his phone on the table.

**********

**********

Grillby hurried inside, having only realized he hadn’t had his phone a few minutes ago when he had reached for it to check the time. When he was at the shop, the shopkeeper told him she had just received his shipment from the Capital for the bar, since he hadn’t been there to receive it. That had led him to move the boxes from the shop to his bar and then, since he was there, put everything away. All in all, he had ended up putting in nearly a full day’s work, and he had reached for his phone to let Papyrus know but found it missing. It was then that he remembered he had left it on the coffee table, which led to him sprinting down the street.

The phone was ringing as he stepped inside and he picked it up just as the message began playing, and he heard his voice, shaky and wavering saying those words he’d said so long ago. Hearing the words brought tears to his eyes and he felt too choked up to answer, so he continued to let the message play through, closing his eyes and mouthing the words along with the message.

“It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, I still love you. It doesn’t matter where you’ve been, you can still come home. Sans, buddy, if it’s you…I mean I’m not gonna lie, we got a lot of making up to do, but I can’t…I can’t hug you through the phone, Sans, so hurry home."

There was a long pause after the beep and Grillby was about to lower the phone when the quiet, raspy voice said quietly over the receiver.

“Dad…I-I’m on my way…”

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah. I wouldn't expect anything to come from this. The idea of Sans and Papyrus being foster kids is one that has done a few tours of my head but nothing but a few scenes has come from it. But anyway, I hope you liked it, and if you have any recommendations of fics I maybe haven't read like this I'm always looking for more angsty fluff. :)
> 
> and disclaimer, I don't own shit, and am not trying to steal anyone's ideas. If someone else has done something similar, this wasn't intentional. I'm broke so kindly don't try to sue me, no one would win in that scenario.


End file.
